


Bloodletting

by ChuGivesGoodPsycho



Category: Lawless (2012)
Genre: Blood, Blood Kink, Gen, Needles, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-25 14:44:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/954356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChuGivesGoodPsycho/pseuds/ChuGivesGoodPsycho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You've got a fever, and Forrest chooses a method of treatment that isn't practiced anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bloodletting

“Forrest! Forrest, please! What are you gonna do? You know we ain’t got antibiotics!” you hear Jack shouting, barely able to make out what he’s saying. The sounds are muddled like they were when you would go swimming in the lake, and your mama would call for you, but you would duck your head under the water and pretend that you couldn’t hear her.

“Now you hush, Jack, s’gon’ be alrigh’,” Forrest says solemnly. He’s close to you. You can hear him clearly. “She’s got a fever, but we can fix it.” You feel his rough hand on your forehead. He gently strokes your sopping, matted hair, pushing it away from your flushed face. Your eyelids flutter furiously as you try to see him. You can make out his figure looming over you, but it’s blurred by sweat or tears, you’re not sure which. You give up and let them close. “Shh, shh, shh,” he comforts you, still sweeping over your hair. 

“Forrest, you gotta do it now.”

“I know, Jack, I gotta plan. Howard!” he grunts, demanding Howard’s attention, “go get Granddad’s bag. You know where it is.”

You hear the soft thud of footsteps as Howard powers down the hall. He’s gone for a short amount of time, but it feels like hours have passed when you finally hear the shuffles signifying his return. He places the bag on the bed next to your legs. It’s heavy and cold, though everything that touches you feels frigid right now.

“Uuuuuhhhh,” Forrest groans as he pulls the bag over you, “s’alrigh’, I’ll have you up in no time,” he says as he rifles through the bag. You can hear clanging, and you know there’s glass and metal in the bag, from the sounds of it.

“For-” you try to choke out his name, but your voice betrays you when you need it most.

“Shhh,” he repeats, continuing to pull supplies from the bag. “Jack, gimme me that jar,” he instructs.

Jack haphazardly tosses the mason jar to Forrest in his current state of panic. Luckily, Forrest expertly catches it, protecting the jar and its precious contents. “Be…careful…” he grunts out. “Here, go take this, an’ hold it over the fire for a minnit,” he commands, his gravelly voice rumbles, and you wish that you could see what was happening, but it takes too much strength to try to open your eyes, so you just lie there, vulnerable, at his mercy, trusting him completely.

“Here, here, take it!” Jack says, handing the heated jar to Forrest.

“Get out. Now.” Forrest nearly whispers. “I need to concentrate, and you ain’t helpin’ one bit. Howard, take ‘im.” He turns his attention back to you as Howard solemnly ushers Jack from the room. “Mmmm, a’righ’,” he sighs heavily. You feel him touching your arm, tying something tightly around it, just above the bend of your elbow. You think you know what’s happening, but you can’t be sure through the haze enveloping your mind. He splashes something cold on you. 

“Wha?” is all you can manage to get out.

“Shhhhh. Don’ worry,” he softly reassures you as the potent smell of moonshine reaches your nostrils. It burns, but it’s a welcome sensation as it sharpens your senses momentarily. You force your eyes open to gaze upon Forrest’s stubbly face. His brow is furrowed. It looks stern, but he couldn’t have been more caring in this moment. You know that he’s focusing completely on the task at hand. You see his hands, thick and calloused, working nimbly. He holds your arm steady in one and has a large needle in the other. Your body starts trembling with anticipation as the butterflies swell in your stomach. You know what’s coming now, and you can’t do anything to stop it.

“Forrest, wait…” you weakly plead with him, but it’s too late. In one swift motion, his hands spark fire that dances in the bend of your arm as the bevel of the needle penetrates your vein. “Oww…” you whimper pathetically at the smarting sensation.

“Hmm. Sorry,” he grunts, not wanting to be the one to hurt you, but knowing that he didn’t really have another choice right now. “I’ll just breathe this vein for a minnit. S’not a common practice anymore, but Granddad use’to do it on us when we was little.”

You watch as your blood, bright red, flashes through a tube connected to the jar that Forrest had Jack heat to create a vacuum. You feel queasy, so you close your eyes and look away.

“Hey, hey, you with me?” he asks you, concerned that you’re going to faint.

“Yeah, I just-I can’t watch righ’ now,” you inform him.

He stays by your side until the jar has filled, gently rubbing your arm to comfort you during the process, letting out small groans occasionally as you stir. “Almos’ done.”

He stands up and carefully unties the tourniquet so as not to disturb the needle protruding from your arm. You hear it fall to the floor. He moves back to the bag and pulls out a square of gauze. It’s old and yellowed, but it’s all he’s got at the moment, so he uses it anyway. He places the gauze over the needle and gives a swift, gentle tug to remove it entirely. He applies firm pressure to your vein with the gauze pad to stop the bleeding. You look back at his face, just inches from yours, and let your weary eyes thank him. He leans in and places a sweet kiss on your forehead. His lips feel almost warm to you. You pray that the procedure works, because you would rather die than feel like this again. Forrest struts to the door.

“You’re a’righ’ now. I’m gonna go get Jack. He loves you. He’ll wanna be here with you.”

The door clicks softly closed, and your head sinks back into the pillow as you await Jack’s return.


End file.
